Wi-Fi Security Standard Nears Approval

Industry sources said the IEEE 802.11i specification could be ratified this Thursday, adding a needed layer of security to the Wi-Fi standard. Sources said the draft specification is on the agenda to be ratified this week as part of an IEEE-SA standards committee meeting in Piscataway, N.J. One source said that although a vote on the proposed specification is not guaranteed, a decision to end the three-year standards process is likely.

The 802.11i standard would add a needed layer of security to Wi-Fi, which has become widespread both in the consumer and corporate spaces. Early attempts at security, such as Windows Encryption Protocol (WEP), provided some basic security but were derided as too easy to crack.

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